Israel, Hamas accept Egyptian truce plan

By Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports

Posted: August 5, 2014 at 3:53 a.m.

Credit: AP
Israeli reserve soldiers pray after returning to Israel from the Gaza Strip near the Israel Gaza border, Monday, Aug. 4, 2014. A brief cease-fire declared by Israel and troop withdrawals slowed violence in the Gaza war Monday, but an attack on an Israeli bus that killed one person in Jerusalem underscored the tensions still simmering in the region as Israeli airstrikes resumed late in the day. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

JERUSALEM -- Israel and Hamas on Monday accepted an Egyptian cease-fire proposal meant to halt a bruising month-long war that has claimed nearly 2,000 lives, raising hopes that the bloodiest round of fighting between the bitter enemies could finally be coming to an end.